Simple lack of awareness of self-funded care was the biggest challenge to the success of this project. Which meant the campaign had to adopt an educational and informational approach while still having an engaging tone. To overcome this challenge, we built out the communications under a theme of “Who knew?”, using patients in need of surgeries as our hero presenters. This simple premise allowed us to inform the audience about various surgery services that were available to them if they were prepared to self-fund, and it reflected the real-life health struggles of our target audiences.

The subtle nuance behind the strategy for this campaign revolved around encouraging people to use the self-funded care option so that they could get back to doing the things they love earlier. Playing the waiting game is a fact of life in the current health system, so for those without private health cover the key message was “You don’t necessarily have to delay needed surgery”. This outcomes-based messaging provided a powerful strategic platform for the campaign.

A key element of the creative was the use of talent to act as spokespeople. While it may have been easier to adopt a third-party corporate approach to the creative, we strongly reasoned that representing our target audiences would increase engagement levels and drive stronger connections. This concept layered the communications with more authenticity and gave the messaging a more personal and emotional tone.

A number of campaign elements were produced, including online videos, digital banners and radio advertising. Each execution incrementally built on the narrative and created a stronger campaign as a whole. While self-funding is a long-term objective for Ramsay Health Care, the impact of this campaign is already being felt through increased inquiries.